28012 — Belmont, North Carolina

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 28012. Its median household income runs 12% below Belmont as a whole, which is why this ZIP carries a profile of its own.

67out of 100
Area Score
Top 20% of 3,113 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 47% of 3,116 ZIP areas measured55
SchoolsTop 23% of 3,047 ZIP areas measured71
GrowthTop 17% of 3,124 ZIP areas measured68
Housing affordability1,629th of 3,112 ZIP areas measured67
ClimateTop 42% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured72
Physical resilienceTop 40% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured66
AccessTop 15% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured99
Economic stabilityTop 39% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured61
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.8% and median household income $83,391, putting employment conditions in the middle range of ZIP areas measured. The unemployment rate is published for Belmont, NC, which contains 28012, rather than for 28012 alone.

In the public schools here, 56% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 17.3 students for every teacher.

2,349 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 3% of the prior year — steady rather than turning. The permit count and 1 other measure here are published for Belmont, NC, which contains 28012, rather than for 28012 alone.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
26,556
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$83,391
Top 34% nationally
Density
974/sq mi
27.3 sq mi of land
Median age
40.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Belmont
North Carolina
Nearest major airport
CLT
5 mi · Charlotte/Douglas Intl
Median home value
$374,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Belmont, NC, which contains 28012, is 3.8%, lower than in 71% of the 3,127 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment across Belmont, NC, which contains 28012, fell 1.8% over the past year, to 110,718 employed residents.

46% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 84% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsGaston County, NC’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$62,17538th percentileof 2,996filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftGaston County, NC’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$56,63623rd percentileof 2,996filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,7812024 ACS 5-Year$83,391Top 34%of 31,0492024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$4,3852024 ACS 5-Year$54,108Top 15%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year8.9%Top 43%of 32,8462024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.3 min2024 ACS 5-Year28.8 minBottom 44%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year45.7%Top 16%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year70.9%33rd percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentBelmont, NC’s figureJuly 2026110,718Top 29%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Belmont, NC’s figureJuly 2026−2.3%Bottom 21%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Belmont, NC’s figureJuly 2026−1.8%Bottom 25%of 3,127July 2026
Labor forceBelmont, NC’s figureJuly 2026115,07871st percentileof 3,127July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year82.0%Top 34%of 32,8832024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageCharlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$68,900Top 39%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Median annual wageCharlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$49,990Top 49%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.1%61st percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Belmont, NC’s figureJuly 2026−0.4%Top 30%of 3,127July 2026
Unemployment rateBelmont, NC’s figureJuly 20263.8%Top 29%of 3,127July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year20.8%85th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202483k72k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $83,391 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand40,540$38,850
Retail Salespersons35,150$33,580
Cashiers27,350$29,610
Fast Food and Counter Workers27,050$28,880
Registered Nurses27,010$90,620
Customer Service Representatives26,120$44,980

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Belmont, NC, the city containing this ZIP code.

56% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 53% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 17.3 students for every full-time teacher across 7 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
7
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
17.3
across all schools here
Math proficiency
55.6%
Top 15% in North Carolina
Reading proficiency
53.3%
Top 22% in North Carolina
All 7 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
South Point HighGaston County Schools98918.358%60%
Stuart W Cramer HighGaston County Schools95318.055%52%
Belmont MiddleGaston County Schools77018.366%55%
Belmont Central ElementaryGaston County Schools69319.859%58%
J B Page Primary SchoolGaston County Schools39615.2——
North Belmont ElementaryGaston County Schools37114.332%37%
Catawba Heights ElementaryGaston County Schools23812.542%37%

59.1% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against North Carolina’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 3% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 97.3, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metro Area is up 50% over five years, and up 1.5% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $3,144 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.84% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,480, close to the $1,383 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,480 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $59,200 a year, about 71% of the median household income here of $83,391.

The typical renter household here spends 30% of its income on rent, at the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,383 a month.

A median home at $374,100 costs 3.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $106,204, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
97.3

Prices here run about 3% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
29.8%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.5×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,480
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,383
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$374,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against 28012’s median household income of $83,391, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metro Area’s figure202397.3Top 44%of 2,7372023
Home price change (1 year)the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+1.5%30th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+49.9%75th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+124.2%90th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year3.5Bottom 26%of 29,2752024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year69.6%29th percentileof 32,7502024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±5112024 ACS 5-Year11,81087th percentileof 33,4602024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,350Bottom 46%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,820Top 43%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,480Top 47%of 3,031FY2026
Median gross rent ±$832024 ACS 5-Year$1,383Bottom 26%of 26,3962024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$20,1722024 ACS 5-Year$374,10077th percentileof 30,8122024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2382024 ACS 5-Year$3,14471st percentileof 28,9352024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$7,7382024 ACS 5-Year$106,204Top 25%of 29,8022024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.08%2024 ACS 5-Year0.84%45th percentileof 24,0992024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year29.8%Bottom 41%of 26,2472024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±82024 ACS 5-Year535th percentileof 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%31st percentileof 32,9612024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.6%41st percentileof 32,7882024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2332024 ACS 5-Year66980th percentileof 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

68/ 100
Top 17% of 3,124 published ZIP profiles

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 2,349 units permitted over the past twelve months, only 14% are in buildings of five or more homes. The multifamily share is published for Belmont, NC, which contains 28012, rather than for 28012 alone.

At 10.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas. The permit rate is published for Belmont, NC, which contains 28012, rather than for 28012 alone.

Units permitted
2,349
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
10.0
Top 12% nationally
Year over year
+3%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
14.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

People moving in and out

Net migration
+1.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
37%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$62,175
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$56,636
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Mecklenburg County, NC 4,710 people · 35% of arrivals
  2. Cleveland County, NC 958 people · 7.1% of arrivals
  3. Lincoln County, NC 703 people · 5.2% of arrivals
  4. York County, SC 577 people · 4.3% of arrivals
  5. Cabarrus County, NC 319 people · 2.4% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Mecklenburg County, NC 2,434 people · 21% of departures
  2. Cleveland County, NC 1,447 people · 13% of departures
  3. Lincoln County, NC 1,093 people · 9.5% of departures
  4. York County, SC 669 people · 5.8% of departures
  5. Catawba County, NC 250 people · 2.2% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Gaston County, NC. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Belmont, NC, the city containing this ZIP code.

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 90°F and January a low of 32°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 43.6 inches, including 3.5 inches of snow.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station CHARLOTTE DOUGLAS AP, 4.7 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals43.6"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals3.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals32°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals90°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals38°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

66 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and strong wind, with inland flooding alone responsible for 61% of it. Inland flooding and strong wind are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

Ice stormElevated
TornadoModerate
LightningModerate
EarthquakeModerate
HurricaneModerate
Cold waveModerate
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: strong wind, inland flooding, hail, heat wave, winter weather, wildfire, drought, avalanche, tsunami, coastal flooding, volcanic activity.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Homicide
6.7
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
16.0
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
29.9
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
14.3
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around 28012 (Gaston County) rather than 28012 itself. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. A ZIP area is not a jurisdiction, so no department reports for one. Belmont carries the figure where its department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Charlotte/Douglas Intl at 5 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year92.9%Top 31%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle5 miTop 8%of 3,127NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle5Top 44%of 3,127NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year4.6%Top 30%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Charlotte/Douglas IntlCLT5 mi10,000 ft
Donaldson FldGYH82 mi8,000 ft
Asheville RgnlAVL86 mi8,002 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
67
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

28012 vs Belmont

How this ZIP area compares with Belmont as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like — a gap here is a real difference between the two places, not two surveys disagreeing.

28012
Belmont
Median household income: Belmont is the more favorable of the two.
Median household income
$83,391
vs
$94,883
Per capita income: Belmont is the more favorable of the two.
Per capita income
$54,108
vs
$59,413
Population density
974/sq mi
vs
1,272/sq mi
Median home value
$374,100
vs
$395,000
Median gross rent: Belmont is the more favorable of the two.
Median gross rent
$1,383
vs
$1,365
Homeownership rate
69.6%
vs
70.7%
Bachelor's degree or higher: Belmont is the more favorable of the two.
Bachelor's degree or higher
45.7%
vs
51.1%
Poverty rate: Belmont is the more favorable of the two.
Poverty rate
8.9%
vs
7.7%
Median age
40.2
vs
39.4

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.